The use of force upon or toward another person is justifiable when the actor reasonably believes that such force is immediately necessary for the purpose of protecting himself against the use of unlawful force by such other person during the incident in question.

In other words, self defense is the right of a person to defend against any unlawful force. Self defense is also the right of a person to defend against seriously threatened unlawful force that is actually pending or reasonably anticipated. When a person is in imminent danger of bodily harm, the person has the right to use force or even deadly force when that force is necessary to prevent the use against (him/her) of unlawful force. The force used by the defendant must not be significantly greater than and must be proportionate to the unlawful force threatened or used against the defendant.

Unlawful force is defined as force used against a person without the person's consent in such a way that the action would be a civil wrong or a criminal offense.

If the force used by the defendant was not immediately necessary for the defendant's protection or if the force used by the defendant was disproportionate in its intensity, then the use of such force by the defendant was not justified and the self defense claim fails.

There are different levels of force that a person may use in (his/her) own defense to prevent unlawful harm.

The defendant can only use that amount or degree of force that (he/she) reasonably believes is necessary to protect (himself/herself) against harm. If the defendant is attempting to protect (himself/herself) against exposure to death or the substantial danger of serious bodily harm, (he/she) may resort to the use of deadly force. Otherwise, (he/she) may only resort to non-deadly force.

Deadly Force

The use of force upon or toward another person is justifiable when the actor reasonably believes that such force is immediately necessary for the purpose of protecting himself against the use of unlawful force by such other person on the present occasion.

The use of deadly force may be justified only to defend against force or the threat of force of nearly equal severity and is not justifiable unless the defendant reasonably believes that such force is necessary to protect (himself/herself) against death or serious bodily harm. Deadly force is defined as force that the defendant uses with the purpose of causing or which (he/she) knows to create a substantial risk of causing death or serious bodily harm. By serious bodily harm we mean an injury that creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious permanent disfigurement or which causes a protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.

For example, if one were to purposely fire a firearm in the direction of another person, that would be an example of deadly force. A mere threat with a firearm, however, intended only to make the victim of the threat believe that the defendant will use the firearm if necessary is not an example of deadly force.

Non-Deadly Force

A person may also use non-deadly force in (his/her) own defense. If a jury finds that this defendant did use non-deadly force to defend (himself/herself), then a jury must determine whether that force was justified.